Continuity 2: The Continuation Review

The
Good

Excellent puzzles. Neat room-sliding mechanic.

The
Bad

Lacks replayability.

Continuity 2: The Continuation continues the successful formula of its predecessor

Continuity 2 hurts my brain. It’s one thing to have to navigate complicated, spike-riddled terrain. It’s another thing entirely to have to alter the flow of entire rooms mid-jump so as to be able to land safely on a coin-laden ledge. Minimalist yet unique, Continuity 2 is the sequel to Continuity, a phenomenally awesome title that won the Best Student Game Award at the independent Games Festival 2010.

While I’ve never played the original, I can attest to its sequel. Continuity 2 isn’t so much hard as it is mind-bending. Granted, the goal itself isn’t too difficult: find the red key, acquire as many coins as possible and leave by the red door. However the journey to that conclusion is another thing entirely. Players will have to slide rooms around to create workable pathways that their on-screen character must navigate in order to get the key.

In the beginning, Continuity 2 will have you engaging in basic puzzles. With only three rooms to manipulate, it isn’t hard to orchestrate an escape for your little stick-man. Nonetheless, as the stages progress, things get tougher. The number of panels grow from three to nine. From then on, depending on your aptitude for puzzle games, it can be a sliding-puzzle nightmare or dream.

Like all good puzzle games, Continuity 2 is excellent at providing that a remarkable sense of accomplishment when everything goes right. It’s hard not to want to pat yourself on the back on a flawless run. Though the action pauses when you arrange the tiles, Continuity 2 is still a strangely fluid experience, something that could be partially attributed to the low-key but effective presentation. Visually speaking, Continuity 2 is a spartan-looking affair. Levels are primarily monochromatic; the only colors present are those belonging to the key, the door and the coin. The main character itself is just a stickman. However, what makes all this works is the fluid, seamless animation, something that lends well to the mind-boggling atmosphere.

Controls-wise, Continuity 2 is easy to master. Tapping on either side of the screen will cause the character to bound towards that direction. A swipe, on the other hand, would result in the character jumping in that direction. In later levels, you’ll also have to tilt your phone in different ways in order to have your stick-man drop onto a ceiling or a wall in order to proceed.

A must-have for any puzzle fan, Continuity 2 is remarkably elegant in its simplicity. Packaged with 50 levels, Continuity 2 offers more than adequate amount of gameplay for its price. Sadly, there’s not much in the way of replayability. Each stage has both a time limit and a certain amount of coins to be acquired. However, asides from that, there’s not much else. Still, all said and done, Continuity 2 is a worthwhile purchase for any fans of the puzzle genre.